The Radio Kitchen

Money. It’s gotta be money. As documented in HBO’s “Left of the Dial” (Available on DVD and worth watching, by the way), Air America jumped out of the box with a rat CEO who quickly disappeared and left the network in woeful financial straits. It’s a good guess that despite minor victories and plenty of accolades over the last couple of years, Air America has yet to prove itself as a profitable venture. The radio grapevine here in New York has been ripe with tales of financial hardship at the network for a long time.

When Air America launched, it was far from perfect as a product. But for talk radio listeners who were angered and sickened by profusion of right wing blabbermouths the event was exhilarating. And with the infusion of TV comedy types (especially Comedy Central vets) into the mix, Air America was immediately different and even entertaining at times. But that was 2004.

The creative team who lined up the initial talent roster (Shelley Lewis and Lizz Winstead) are long gone now. The first six hours of the initial Air America line-up were experimental in that they each featured three hosts who had never worked together, and only one of each trio had actually done radio before. The first few months were rough as both tri-ego programs attempted to find a balance and chemistry between the hosts themselves, and for each show to establish a rhythm and sense of itself.

Bottom line, one show gelled the other never did. “Unfiltered,” wasn’t a horrible program, but it was never a great one. Hosted by Winstead herself with Chuck D. of Public Enemy and Rachel Maddow, the only one left on the air at the network is Maddow who now hosts her own show from 7 to 9 in the morning. The dissolution of Unfiltered occurred at the beginning of former music exec Danny Goldberg’s tenure as CEO of Air America, and as his first major programming decision plugged the hole in the lineup with something truly awful– “Springer On The Radio.”

However, as I discussed in the pages of this blog months ago, the other half of the grand morning experiment at Air America did gel. After a few months, the radio/TV comedy alchemy produced a totally unique and often hilarious left-wing talk show– Morning Sedition. Comic Marc Maron teamed with local NYC radio voice Mark Riley was a rollicking idiosyncratic chunk of fun every morning. Riley provided the grounding for irreverent and manic Maron, who grew into a powerful radio talent in the daily grind of putting out the show. Apparently, Mr. Goldberg wasn’t amused. His next big programming decision at the network was to dump Morning Sedition as well.

In it’s place, you get an extended Rachel Maddow show (which was doubled from it’s previous one hour configuration) and a trimmed down version of Morning Sedition WITHOUT Marc Maron. And just like Al Franken without his former co-host Katherine Lanpher, Riley is left to banter with his production staff. And that’s how Air America sounds in general– less inspired and a feeling that decisions are being made with financial desperation trumping the willingness to take risks or invoke any real creative changes in the programming or in the business model of the network itself.

And while Air America seems to be constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul to keep its fledgling left of center radio network together financially, former Clear Channel CEO Randy Michaels has been working behind the scenes slowly laying the groundwork (and gathering capital) for his own “progressive” talk empire– “Product First.” And in one bold stealth move, Michaels has suddenly gotten the upper hand and dealt a crippling blow to his competition by snatching away Air America’s flagship station, WLIB. Come September, WLIB will be under his control. What does this mean for Air America programming in New York? Good question.

Almost all the scenarios for Air America having a respectable presence in New York (the biggest radio market in the U.S.) after August are lousy. Even grim. There don’t seem to be any AM stations in New York with signals as good or better than WLIB that Air America are likely to be able to afford or convince to carry their programming. Not that WLIB is blowtorch, but they do cover the city and immediate area pretty well. And FM seems out of the question.

Then again, there is one obvious choice. They could STAY at WLIB, under the thumb of Randy Michaels.

The sneaky deal with Inner City is classic Randy Michaels. While he may have fallen from the highest position in all of radio, Michaels is still a force to be reckoned with. He’s high rolling wheeler-dealer motherfucker, and takes no prisoners. Before he was the head of Clear Channel, he ran a much smaller radio entity, Jacor Communications. At their peak, Jacor ruthlessly dominated four medium radio markets in the U.S. and were buying up more stations at a rapid pace. They also owned The Rush Limbaugh Show and Dr. Laura as well. And then when the company was absorbed by Clear Channel, Michaels and his Jacor gang actually TOOK OVER operation of Clear Channel.

Product First, or “P1" is the creation of Michaels and Stu Krane, who (get this) was involved in the national launch of the Rush Limbaugh program in the late 80′s. And last year they put their progressive talk radio network on the map by purchasing the most popular left-wing show NOT on Air America– The Ed Schultz Show. A bulky and boomy fellow who broadcasts out of North Dakota, Schultz is now on over 100 stations. A former right-winger who somehow went through some mystifying born again political experience, Schultz fashions himself as a manly progressive. He makes a point of bragging about his affection for guns and meat.

What’s Randy Michaels up to? The best guess is he’s up to his same old tricks– media domination. In the interim after he lost his gig as the king of Clear Channel and before he started a new company, Michaels was asked what he was going to next. “I was the architect of the largest radio group in the world, and I’m ready to move on to the next,” he boasted. And he borrowed a quote from the new CEO of Proctor and Gamble– “Change is inevitable…lead it.”

This is the irony of Air America. Left-wing talk, and maybe more importantly, talk radio that doesn’t follow the Republican talking points, is obviously a ripe for development and investment these days, but Air America’s leadership in the field hasn’t yielded a viable business model for the network itself. And Randy Michaels isn’t an idealist. He’s a businessman. And now Air America is getting the business, from Michaels.

Now over a barrel, Air America has to be in the middle of all sorts of discussions and/or negotiations right now to maintain some radio presence in New York City. The left-wing talk network is at a crossroads. Outside of some trimming and cutbacks, there’s been no rethinking of Air America’s programming or vision. Now, at least here in New York, there’s some hard choices to make and it will be interesting to see what Air America does next.

While I have no facts (or even unsubstantiated rumors) to back this up, I have a theory. Randy Michaels is a brilliant business strategist, and maybe this savvy chess move has given him the perfect opportunity to become the emperor of progressive talk radio in a hurry. What if Air America somehow merged with “Product First” and Michaels was put in charge? That would put the network in the hands of a proven predatory radio legend and would spell huge changes in Air America. And it might work.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not really in favor of this idea (or fantasy), but Air America is certainly at a weak point and there doesn’t seem to be any good news on the horizon. They need leadership, and Michaels is a proven leader. Is he actually liberal? A very good question indeed. One thing’s for sure– he doesn’t fool around.

Whatever happens, I do predict some big changes at Air America in the next year. And in that time there will be some drastic changes in their programming, or they won’t be on the air at all. That’s a guess I stand by, for now.

(This post originally appeared in Beware of the Blog.)

What’s worse is the loss of Mike Malloy on WLIB. While often hyperbolic and quick to fury, Malloy provides an important function on the Air America talk show roster. Went I went out to a “meet and greet” session with Malloy in the East Village, I came away with one memory that encapsulates the Mike Malloy radio experience. I passed a couple walking away from the event and overheard the woman say to her husband: “I told him his anger helps me…”

And when you’re really pissed off about the American political landscape and the cavalcade of Bush Administration screw-ups, Mike Malloy can provide the perfect prescription. He can be harsh, but these are harsh times. If you’ve never heard Malloy, here’s a clip that kinda gives you an idea of his style, when he gets… serious.

Mike Malloy – Shining Star  0:25

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And here ‘s one of my favorite moments from his show. I wish liberal talkers would do more of this kind of thing…

Mike Malloy – Right-Wing Mike  19:18

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It’s Malloy pretending to be a right wing moron for a guest from the "Christian Action Network" who’s very concerned about homos frolicking through Disney World.

So, while Malloy continues in his late night slot on the Air America network, on their flagship station WLIB his show is now pre-empted by “The Satellite Sisters.” It’s happy helpful radio with a bunch of real-life upper middle class white sisters who chat about "lifestyle" issues. It makes the Al Franken show sound like wild-eyed pirate radio. Some of the urgent topics recently on the Satellite Sisters show– “As you listen to the weather forecast this winter, think what it means for your animals” and “Look a salesperson in the eye when you say goodbye,” and most importantly “Wipe down exercise machines and mats at the gym after using them.” I’m NOT kidding. I cut and paste this crap from this page on their website.

Before the Satellite Sisters landed a syndication deal with ABC/Disney, their chirpy show originated here at New York’s jumbo NPR outlet, WNYC. But even some public radio listeners (who should be accostomed to fuzzy and precious programming), were nauseated by the self-important yuppie sisters when they were on WNYC. An article in the New York Observer in 2002 said “so much invective about the show hit the WNYC Web site that the Webmaster posted a reminder that vulgar or overly personal attacks are not welcome.” That’s the difference. Malloy helps you accept and even appreciate your own justified anger at Bush madness. The Satellite Sisters in turn, needlessly enrage with empty sterile fluff in an era of bad news and bad governance.

The official Air America excuse is that ABC gave them an offer ($$$) they couldn’t refuse to steal the last couple hours of programming on Air America’s flagship station. The unstated reason is that Malloy’s show wasn’t pulling in Arbitron numbers. But they never promoted his show in New York either. And replacing the fire of Mike Malloy with an blithe Disney product that’s too cute for the NPR crowd isn’t just bad programming: It’s insulting to their New York listeners and gives the impression that Air America is running away from their original convictions and intent.

Add to that the dopey sports and cooking shows they’ve brokered off on the weekends and a lame cruise giveaway promotion they’re running through the weekday programming, and WLIB just sounds much more desperate and unimaginative these days. You would think that the mothership station of Air America would have more vision and more guts.

Marc Maron, the driving force behind the once brilliant “Morning Sedition” on Air America is kicking off his L.A based nightly program this week on the network. Let’s hope that Air America’s flagship station can find room on the schedule to offer him some time. Of course, an infomercial featuring anti-aging supplements might bring in more quick cash…

(This post originally appeared in Beware of the Blog.)

Maddow’s powerful presence on television is ironic in a number of ways. First, Maddow doesn’t watch TV. Her media intake is print media, internet and radio. But she’s become a cable TV talking head via a regular role on Tucker Carlson’s show on MSNBC– "The Situation." And what’s odd, is he had another program last year on PBS called "Unfiltered," which had the same name as Maddow’s original show on Air America. Although both were canceled, it was Air America who first used the title.

While Carlson‘s gotten mixed reviews at best as the host of the show, Maddow star has quickly risen as a respected progressive pundit on the cable news scene by being a regular panelist on his program.

For now, radio remains the focus of Maddow’s energies. It’s a statement to Air America’s recognition of her talents that they expanded their schedule one hour into the early morning to create a program just for her. Maddow’s original Air America program, "Unfiltered," was a bit of a muddle at times, but had it’s moments and built a loyal fan base. While the other co-hosts of the show, Lizz Winstead and Chuck D. were already minor celebrities in their own right, Maddow’s only media fame before Air America was a morning radio show in western Massachusetts. Yet, it was the boyish Maddow’s news doggedness and earnest energy that drove the show and gave Unfiltered purpose.

So while most are either sleeping or hitting the snooze alarm, Maddow bolts out of the gate at 5:06 a.m. And for thirty some minutes (minus the commercials and the Kent Jones hijinks) Maddow informs, opines and speaks truth to power with a warm voice of authority and positive style that always calls on activism and humor instead of boiling over in outrage.

She sprints through the lead stories that are out there each morning, and digs in and finds stories she thinks should be in the headlines. And whether or not the wars in the Middle East are making the headlines, each day Maddow kicks off her show with "news from life during wartime." But her signature bit is when she "pokes a stick at the soft white underbelly of the right-wing scheme machine" and offers insight on the latest and shadiest political tactics of the neo-cons and the religious right. It’s a tradition she developed during the days of Unfiltered as a liberal muckraker who predicted what the right was going to do next, and let you know what the Bush Administration was trying to hide when they released bad news right before a weekend news lull or when a bigger story was attracting everyone’s attention.

If you’re interested in upgrading your news & information media diet, you can download daily archives of The Rachel Maddow show here, and if you follow the directions you can podcast any Air America program via this site.

The New York Times ran a minor feature on Air America a week ago Sunday which sang the praises of hosts Rachel Maddow and Randi Rhodes. In it, Air America CEO Danny Goldberg is quoted saying that both are "exactly the two people who have emerged in dramatic fashion" from the shadows of Franken and Garofalo as prominent voices of Air America. The fact that the controversy over Air America getting rid of Morning Sedition’s Marc Maron is NOT mentioned in the article is telling. For one, it seems that at far as Air America is concerned Maron is history. And sadly, it seems like the New York Times is either not paying much attention to what’s going on at Air America, or is selectively reporting the news again. But most significantly, it seems to foretell of the post-Maron Air America. Most likely, Ms. Maddow will probably be the anchor of the next incarnation of Air America’s drive-time morning slot.

While Maddow’s talents would undoubtedly translate to good radio no matter which slot she might occupy at the network, it seems unwise to completely dump one of the most dynamic programs on Air America, especially the ONLY one that always delivers laughs, in order to give Maddow more air time. Let’s not forget that the 9am to noon slot is occupied by the radio non-talent Jerry Springer, who sounds as if he’s explaining the issues of the day to a room full of middle-school kids, AND controversial talk monster Howard Stern is about to abdicate his morning throne and head off to Sirius Satellite Radio. While some of his fans will fork over the dough for the equipment and subscription fee to follow Stern, a lot of his other listeners will be scanning the radio dial for topical comedy talk, and if it were around Maron’s Morning Sedition might be a viable magnet for the coming Howard Stern radio diaspora.

While I don’t have the Arbitron data, the word on the street is that Morning Sedition is yet to make a big dent in the morning New York market, and that’s the bottom line reason Maron is being squeezed out of the slot. Sure, that’s important stuff but Air America is a network and Morning Sedition is national. If Air America is making decisions based on traditional NYC radio statistics could be counterintuitive. Over 5000 people have signed the internet petition to save Maron’s role on Morning Sedition since my last post on his pending removal. While the NYC ratings may not be what the network desires, it seems obvious the program has strong support within the Air America listener base. Shouldn’t that mean something? And in the last year I’ve seen outdoor advertising in New York for Franken, Rhodes, Springer and The Majority Report. I’ve never seen one ad in the city for Morning Sedition.

Again, I’m not privy to the Arbitron numbers, but I think internet data has a significance that’s not to be ignored. For example, look at the difference between the number of strings on the Jerry Springer show’s message board, compared with the how many are running the Morning Sedition board (these are NOT official Air America boards by the way). One show inspires discussion, the other almost none. The Springer show has all of three threads, one of them about how LITTLE discussion there is on the board. Springer’s daily show blog posts generate a handful of comments. The Morning Sedition daily blog posts gather from 150 to 250 comments.

Less than stellar ratings aside, Air America has been an important element in countering the Republican noise machine and is developing an avid fan base on the internet. It’s damn important that they succeed financially, but in the scheme of things they’re not paying attention if they totally ignore the power and persuasion of their internet crowd. People who podcast, download archives, and post on the web aren’t just net savvy, they’re strategic links in a broad network of thinkers and disseminators of information that Air America needs for voices and networking nodes within the burgeoning media counterbalance to the right-wing propaganda machine. And they spread the gospel of Air America on the internet. That’s promotion you can’t buy.

No doubt, Rachel Maddow would kick ass in a better (and longer) slot on Air America’s schedule. But to scrap one of their best programs (one that also has cutting edge comedy, has co-host chemistry that works, and fires up the internet listener base) seems like a bad idea– Especially when there’s another morning program on Air America with an insufferably boring host who engenders almost no significant internet fan base.

While it’s obviously a smart move to give Maddow more air time on the network, it’s a shortsighted move to eliminate a dynamic and vital chunk of programming to give her the airspace she is due. And it seems that’s what’s about to happen, and it’s possible that there’s nothing any bloggers or internet posters can do keep Maron on Morning Sedition. Go ahead and add your name to the web petition. Feel empowered?

I advise you to go ahead and enjoy what’s left of the doomed Morning Sedition. Listen via your local affiliate or Podcast the show by going here, or snatch up one the archives right here. In theory, you’ll be able to access Morning Sedition archives at Air America Place for a while, but if you want to hear the show right up until the end (which is supposed to be the end of November), or you also can stream it live in the morning from Air America’s site. And if you’d like to just check out some of the hijinks of Morning Sedition satirists Jim Earl and Kent Jones there’s archived bits available here. (Or you could scroll down to the 11-04-05 post on this blog to see a insightful love letter to the show.)

Rachel Maddow is an excellent host and pundit with a sensitive sniffer for important stories that are off the radar. It was smart to keep her around after the dissolution of Unfiltered. Considering her work at Air America it would be damn intuitive to bring her into a better time slot and give her more time. Though Maron has a much different approach to radio, like Maddow he’s quickly evolved and improved as a talk radio personality in the twenty months of Air America’s existence. Not only that, but they both come across as dedicated to sticking with the network for the long haul. And their two programs are currently followed by two shows hosted by dabblers in talk radio. It’s very likely that Springer and/or Franken could easily shed their radio pulpits in the near future to dedicate their time to television again, or even seek political office. Franken’s show is a mixed bag, but he’s still the face of Air America. However, Springer’s radio program is second rate across the board and he offers nothing beyond his notoriety. Admittedly, Franken has successfully marketed himself as a powerful political force, but Springer’s fame in the general public is based solely on a legacy of sleazy television that anybody (including Springer himself) would admit has coarsened the medium. If he was doing groundbreaking radio, it might be easier to forget his crappy TV show or his past political scandals, but he’s NOT. What’s the point?

Never a fan of Howard Stern, I’ve never heard compelling satire on a morning radio show until I heard Morning Sedition. But I’ve also never heard a talk show like Maddow’s with a host who digs into the news with a voracious and graceful fury that enlightens and empowers the listener. They’re both strong programs, but the block they now fill is unfortunetly followed by a radio amateur who happens to be a celebrity.

Best idea? Trim Springer’s show, or just pay him off and cut him loose. Maddow and Maron are homegrown Air America air talents who have proven themselves, and with the news wisdom of Mark Riley and the satire of Jones and Earl, their work makes the first four hours of the Air America’s weekday schedule the most listenable and informative chunk of their line-up.

Air America is an ongoing experiment and radio is extremely competitive, especially mornings. One can understand Air America’s desire to tweak and perfect their schedule, but making network wide decisions this early in the game based on the ratings in one city instead of making a judgment based on the merit and viability of the hosts they’ve successfully developed seems wrongheaded.

If the rumors are true, and Maddow gets a better and bigger role on the schedule, it’s a plus. But if Maron disappears too, there won’t just be a backlash, there will be a drastic loss to Air America’s air staff. That would be sad.

(This post originally appeared in Beware of the Blog.)

Air America’s biggest experiments were their two morning shows, both featuring teams of three hosts– "Morning Sedition" and "Unfiltered." Morning Sedition came into its own after one host left the show (more on that in a minute). But Unfiltered only survived the first year. Two of the hosts, Rachel Maddow and Public Enemy’s Chuck D now have their own programs (Maddow’s early early morning show which now runs from 5 to 6 a.m. is a tight and timely review of the news well worth a listen). But the third other co-host Lizz Winstead (who was also one of the key programming-creative figures at the dawn of the network) is gone. Best known as one of the creator’s of TV’s "The Daily Show," Winstead was the biggest architect of the "television-vision" for Air America. And now she’s in the middle of a lawsuit to claim unpaid wages from the network. While I don’t know the details as far as which side seems to be in the right, the filing of the suit revealed that they were paying Winstead a quarter million a year for her services. And you wonder why they’re having money troubles…

Oh and speaking of television, Unfiltered was replaced by TV crapmaster Jerry Springer. It’s easy to forget that Springer was a politician before he became the host of one of the most inane hours in television. His Air America talk show is a serious one featuring his heartfelt leftist views on political issues. However, it is BORING. It’s traditional talk radio run by a host who has no understanding of the medium. It’s so boring that I don’t have anything more to say about it, except to hope it’s not long for this world. It’s a waste of valuable radio frequencies across the country. And let’s hope they’re not spending a lot of money to keep Springer’s big name on the schedule.

If you’re talking to someone unfamiliar with talk radio or leftist media and mention "Air America," they likely won’t know what you’re talking about. Then tell them it’s that new talk network with Al Franken, and then they’ll probably recall hearing something about it. Best known as a TV writer and comedian, Franken has become a political media superstar. He’s just finished another lefty book sure to rise up the best-seller list, and seems to be headed toward a U.S. Senate run in 2008 in Minnesota.

His mid-day show has been the flagship show for the fledgling network since its inception. Teamed with public radio’s Katherine Lanpher, Franken’s program settled into a groove pretty quickly as a breezy political talk show with plenty of writers, researchers and politicians discussing the issues of the day. And of course, there’s always heaping helpings of Franken style humor to be found in between the serious bits. However, despite his big name and notable accomplishments in the comedy realm, Franken’s constant retelling of bad jokes and his just plain hokey sense of humor doesn’t often make for cutting edge radio.

And what’s worse, Lanpher has left the show and Franken seems to be floundering a bit without her there to keep the show on track and keep Franken’s expansive ego in check. Franken now is using the technical and production staffers around him as comedy foils and it’s a little painful to hear. That said, his appearance on Letterman the other night was quite funny and almost electric. It all made it painfully obvious that Franken’s charisma doesn’t translate well to radio or the long form medium of a three hour talk show. And how will he fare on the campaign trail? Or on the Senate floor? You gotta wonder.

Which all gets me back to the subject at hand, Marc Maron. If you happened to see the excellent and insightful HBO documentary on the beginning of Air America, "Left of the Dial," you saw the good and bad of Mr. Maron at the dawn of his radio career. Previously Maron had been a stand-up comic (and author) best known for his appearances on cable and late night talk TV. Painfully neurotic and unsure of himself, Maron is seen in early scenes in the film as someone out of his element, having no idea how to navigate three hours of radio five days a week, as well as having to adjust to working pre-dawn hours every day. And in the beginning Morning Sedition show was a mess, with three separate personalities trying to find some kind of chemistry. Just to hear all three of them conduct an interview or take a call kinda hurt.

And it was plain to hear (and see in the documentary) that there wasn’t a lot of love between Maron and one of this co-hosts, Sue Ellicott. A former BBC TV commentator (and frequent panelist on the NPR comedy show abortion known as "Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me"), Ellicott didn’t have much of a stomach for Maron’s fast-paced acid humor. My favorite line in the whole movie occurs when the show is live and Ellicott tries to smooth out and "balance" something Maron had said in an interview– and Maron fires back: "Who’s side are you on British Lady?" Perhaps more than Randi Rhodes’ first-day slap fight with Ralph Nader, that moment was a telling blow that Air America was going to be nothing like the limp-wristed and neutered political coverage of NPR. Thank god.

Since Ellicott has left the show, the partnership of Marc and Mark has gained fame and followers across the country. Each local remote appearance is packed with fans. They’re a good team. Co-host Mark Riley’s decades of  newsroom experience grounds Maron’s scattershot rants, and his "everyman" quality makes him the perfect straight man for Maron’s rabid wit. And then you have some solid wacky writers (including comedian-writer Kent Jones who adds his stable of characters and impersonations into the mix), and the end result is a dependable helping of news and chuckles in every show. It’s a radio program that offers up-to-the minute information, historical context, and wild-ass funny bits. And any moment can yield an impromptu dose of Maron’s off-the-cuff self-obsessed rambling about his life. Somehow, it’s about as good as morning radio gets in this era of incompetent and malevolent governance. It would be a shame to lose it.

Unlike anyone else on Air America (including Franken), Maron slams the idiocy and evil of the Bush administration AND makes you laugh at the same time (which isn’t easy). If you can imagine combining the indignant anger of Mike Malloy (without the froth) with the dark comedy of Bill Hicks and the over-the-top irreverence of Andy Breckman, you get an idea of Maron’s talk radio persona. Air America has grown a real radio talent with Maron, and while nobody on the outside seems to know the exact details of why they may soon part, you’d have to hope that Air America wouldn’t let loose one of their best on-air assets at this point in the game.

You don’t have to look far on the internet to find the details of the money troubles Air America has had since the very beginning. And Maron had a fairly successful career before Morning Sedition, and one would think that the radio show has probably given that career a boost. He also has a long-distance marriage (to his wife in California) because he has to be in New York for his Air America duties. If he’s holding out for a healthy sum, it’s easy to understand why. Maron has become a valuable asset to the network, and must he know that. One can only imagine what they pay Franken, and it’s assumed that he’s probably only going to be around for so long anyway. Air America should invest in their future, if they want to have one.

If you’re not familiar with Morning Sedition or Maron’s radio efforts, have a listen to some MP3 bits from yesterday’s show. It ain’t the funniest one I’ve ever heard, but hey it’s fresh.

Maron Discusses Leaving The Show  1:07

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Cat Giveaway  0:47

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O’Neal’s Announcement  1:20

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Email Plea-Belly Dancing Call  1:40

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The INews 5000 WiFi Headline Translator  1:36

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The Monday Job Listing  1:13

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Morning Remembrance  5:05

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Liberal Marching Orders-Halloween Tripping Story  2:09

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And if you’re not up early in the morning, or you can’t hear Air America where you live, you can download Morning Sedition (without ads) every day right here, and even easier, you can podcast it with links from this page.

Maron is now saying that he may occasionally be part of Morning Sedition in some small way, and he occasionally hints that there’s some small chance he’ll remain as co-host. But it’s important to remember, even if you love the host of any show or love the station that carries it, radio is really a cutthroat business. It’s rare that a radio personality remains on the air when contract negotiations are failing. And you can hear in Maron’s on-air discussions of the matter that he’s being very careful about what he says, and what he doesn’t say. If you piss off the boss and you’re on your way out, you’re likely to be off the air in as soon as they can drag you out of the studio. It happens all the time.

Ongoing online conversations regarding Marc Maron leaving Air America can be found on the Morning Sedition Blog, or the Morning Sedition Message Board. An online petition to keep Marc Maron on Morning Sedition can be found here, and the official email address to plea for Maron’s survival at the network belongs to the Air America CEO, Danny Goldberg (dannyg@airamericaradio.com).

Air America is not Clear Channel, and they undoubtedly have some hard financial choices to make, at least for a while. However, there’s a couple of weak shows in their lineup that are just ripe to be plucked from the schedule and replaced with something else. But Morning Sedition isn’t one of them. And while Riley is a real radio talent with more experience than almost anyone else on the air at the network, it’s the manic magic of Marc Maron that keeps people listening every morning. Let’s hope Air America figures that out before it’s too late.

(This post originally appeared in Beware of the Blog.)

While he’s not really a lefty, his opposition to the Bush agenda has made his show a good complement to Air America’s programming. Although they’re doing a fine job providing an oasis of liberal talk and a significant radio news portal, Air America isn’t always easy listening. With all that information and attitude, the listener is also subjugated to occasional waves of hysteria and raw anger that can be hard to take.

To be fair, when it comes to Bush and the war I’ve been known to exhibit a bit of hysteria and raw anger myself, (I’d like to think I do a better job of venting than Janeane Garofalo) but even I can only take so much naked fury coming out of my radio.

Lionel however, keeps his cool. The only histrionics you hear on his show comes from the callers. Instead of ratcheting up the emotional content of the show when he gets an obnoxious or irate call, Lionel handles each situation with aplomb. As a lawyer, he knows how to let fools prove themselves foolish. And his firm grasp of talk radio dynamics have made him a master of mercilessly poking fun at call-in knuckleheads (or any caller really) without getting them too upset about it. A concise definition of Lionel’s radio persona– gracious spirited smart ass. And perhaps another reason Lionel is so good with the phones is that he got his start in radio as a caller himself.

Back in the 1980′s, there was a golden era of South Florida talk radio, when legendary radio hosts like Neil Rogers and Bob Lassiter perfected the talk format as “theater of the mind” broadcasting. (Air America’s Randi Rhodes came out of that same scene.). Over the years, Lionel became one of the most well known caller’s on shows like Lassiter’s. In an unprecedented move, the program director at WFLA in Tampa let him come in and try his hand as a talk radio host in the late 80′s He soon had a regular gig there, which eventually led to a stint at talk radio giant WABC in New York in 1993.

Lionel came into his own as a talk host doing afternoon drive at WABC. Funny and unpredictable, Lionel was the opposite of the dour talk-corpse he replaced, Bob Grant. However, when they put Lionel on in the morning with Mike Gallagher, who must have the second lowest IQ in talk radio (But I don’t think anyone on the air is dumber than Michael Reagan), it was a HUGE mismatch. Within months Lionel was gone. After a brief career fling with Court TV Lionel went solo, syndicating his own radio program from New York.

If you had to pinpoint Lionel politically, he’s more or less a contrarian libertarian with a passion for individual rights. Actually, before the Iraq War started, Lionel supported the invasion. While not beating the war drums like most right-wing hosts were at the time, he was still a New Yorker shaken up by 9-11. And like a lot of Americans, back in 2003 Lionel admits that he still harbored some irrational bloodlust leftover from the terrorist attacks. Also like so many, he assumed that the Bush Administration wouldn’t launch a big bloody war without some damn good reasons. Oops.

While the recent revelation of the Downing Street Memo seems to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the war was started under false pretenses, it’s been obvious for a long time that the Bush Administration has been less than honest– conducting policies that have not only have killed and maimed many thousands, but has also made us LESS safe than we were before the terrorist attacks.

And what makes Lionel different from the Air America roster and new batch of lefty talk hosts out there, is that there’s a real “everyman” quality to his take on the war. On his own, he came to realize the war wasn’t just a big mistake, but that it is an ongoing outrage committed in our name AND that we are being lied to about it (or diverted from it) everyday. And while his program is often cobbled together with Air America programming, Lionel is also broadcasted on stations which carry bloodthirsty racists like Bob Grant and Michael Savage (like WOR here in New York). And he must REALLY piss off some of the listeners of those radio stations. I like that. Sometimes WOR lets him fill in for Bob Grant in the afternoon. Now that’s FUN.

So, here’s a big commercial-free chunk of Lionel’s show from last Friday. It’s one of his more serious programs, specifically about the Iraq War.

The Lionel Show – 05-13-05  76:52

(download)

While he’s as likely to do a show about porn, a celebrity trial, or music (unfortunately his taste in music isn’t so hot– he thinks Chicago was a great band), he also can dig right into a political topic, without screaming, yelling, or foaming at the mouth.

Also, if you haven’t heard Air America in the morning, check out Morning Sedition. After a rocky start, they jettisoned the lame British broad and the comic insanity of Marc Maron has taken center stage. Here’s the unofficial site for Air America archives, including Morning Sedition. Also, if your interested in giving a listen to some of the other anti-war voices in talk radio (Yes there are a few now, besides the Air Americans), check out The White Rose Society.

Sadly, there is no site currently hosting archives of the Lionel Show. Although for those of you who know how to download binaries from Usenet, I’ve seen archives posted in this group– alt.binaries.sounds.radio.misc.

You can see a list of all the affiliates that carry his program, and you can find a number of stations there which stream Lionel’s show live as well. It’s usually broadcast on Monday thru Friday from 10pm to 1am eastern time. Here in New York, they only play the last two hours starting at 11pm on 710 WOR-AM.

I like Air America, and I hope they succeed on every level. These are dire times, and there is a real need for leftist voices to be heard in talk radio, and the massive propagandist lies of Hannity, Limbaugh and the snorting droves of talk pigs must be challenged. But it’s equally important for talk radio listeners to hear from someone who ruminates on current affairs with logic and wit, unfettered by party politics. And if the talk host happens to be a radio professional AND mischievous AND congenial, all the better. We need to laugh. We need common sense. We need Lionel.

(This post originally appeared in Beware of the Blog.)